Hi
I am writing this as it might help another member avoid what just happened to us. This is our first time ever exchanging and only because of the issues we’ve had with Covid and all the cancellations. We called member services after our Hawaii reservation was canceled due to Covid. They convinced us that our best move would be to go ahead and bank our points which we did. She also explained at the time that we could borrow back points from the following year and the 50% limit. Totally understood. We booked a May trip for Disneyland at VGC. Then the cruise we had planned for this year also got canceled for this week. So we knew we had all the points that we had banked into the following year still available. We looked on the website and we decided that we would take the kids to the Grand Canyon. Using Las Vegas has a good jump off point since there was other things to do around the area as well that would be fun with the kids. We had a lot of availability back in November and decided that we would go to Tahiti village in Las Vegas. There is a lazy river and a sandy bottom pool and the villas look comparable to a DVC resort. We realized with the 50% rule that we would be short because we had to borrow back. We called member services and they canceled two nights off of our California reservation. She said then just to go online and we could go ahead and book what we wanted and we would be fine. We received a confirmation email. We assumed everything was good. I called yesterday just to confirm our reservation as a cautionary thing that I usually do and to confirm where they have us located. They had no confirmation reservation for us. I immediately called DVC. They told me our reservation had been canceled on November 6. Supposedly someone called my cell phone. I have no voicemail and my phone records show no such call. Because believe me I checked. They also never sent an email if they cancel you. The reason they canceled as we didn’t have enough points available. We do have the points but because of how they apply them by using the bank points first before borrowing even with the cancellation we suddenly did not have enough points for the 10 night stay. The representative we had on the phone was incorrect when we canceled those two nights off of our grand Californian resort. If we had been informed of the way the system worked as far as using bank points and not returning them and then borrowed we would have just shortened our Las Vegas stay and kept our additional two nights at VGC. Representative we spoke to was entirely incorrect and because of it we’ve had a very difficult day. There was no way to cancel our plans at this point, they finally found us a reservation for all but one night at Holiday Inn Desert vacation club. If we did not already have flights and show tickets I would not have used my points for this particular property. In no way do the villas look comparable to what we are used to staying at through DVC. Nor does the resort. I’m not even sure tomorrow when we check in if we will get a ground-floor room and they have no elevators and I have a husband with double knee replacement two months ago. The representative today was very knowledgeable and got a manager and actually helped in allowed us to technically over borrow due to the mistake that was made by the previous representative. It’s still doesn’t leave a very good taste in my mouth. I am out 180 points for a resort I would never have booked at. Back when we first were looking at resorts there was everything from the Trump resort to Hilton resorts. Both of which I find to be a stop up from a Holiday Inn. The Villa is 200 ft.² smaller than what we had booked without the amenities that we had planned at the Tahiti village. The only saving grace is the location is I suppose better. Again, I am extremely disappointed and trying to make the best of it and enjoy the time with my family away from the crisis. But I would always if I book RCI double check everything you think you know even once you receive the confirmation. The representative I spoke to was going to send an email to management about the fact that if anything gets canceled they should also send an email. Imagine my surprise if I had not double checked and tomorrow showed up at 9o’clock in the evening only to realize they had no room for us. I would have ended up paying cash for a very expensive room before changing to a different property. I highly doubt we will do an exchange again in the future after this experience. I realize the borrowing rules that are in effect right now we’re making things difficult for everyone but we did everything we could to make sure we were doing everything correct after being canceled twice. Hopefully this will help someone else in the future when they consider transferring out. I really feel like we wasted our points this year. I hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving. Hopefully your luck with RCI will be better than mine
I am writing this as it might help another member avoid what just happened to us. This is our first time ever exchanging and only because of the issues we’ve had with Covid and all the cancellations. We called member services after our Hawaii reservation was canceled due to Covid. They convinced us that our best move would be to go ahead and bank our points which we did. She also explained at the time that we could borrow back points from the following year and the 50% limit. Totally understood. We booked a May trip for Disneyland at VGC. Then the cruise we had planned for this year also got canceled for this week. So we knew we had all the points that we had banked into the following year still available. We looked on the website and we decided that we would take the kids to the Grand Canyon. Using Las Vegas has a good jump off point since there was other things to do around the area as well that would be fun with the kids. We had a lot of availability back in November and decided that we would go to Tahiti village in Las Vegas. There is a lazy river and a sandy bottom pool and the villas look comparable to a DVC resort. We realized with the 50% rule that we would be short because we had to borrow back. We called member services and they canceled two nights off of our California reservation. She said then just to go online and we could go ahead and book what we wanted and we would be fine. We received a confirmation email. We assumed everything was good. I called yesterday just to confirm our reservation as a cautionary thing that I usually do and to confirm where they have us located. They had no confirmation reservation for us. I immediately called DVC. They told me our reservation had been canceled on November 6. Supposedly someone called my cell phone. I have no voicemail and my phone records show no such call. Because believe me I checked. They also never sent an email if they cancel you. The reason they canceled as we didn’t have enough points available. We do have the points but because of how they apply them by using the bank points first before borrowing even with the cancellation we suddenly did not have enough points for the 10 night stay. The representative we had on the phone was incorrect when we canceled those two nights off of our grand Californian resort. If we had been informed of the way the system worked as far as using bank points and not returning them and then borrowed we would have just shortened our Las Vegas stay and kept our additional two nights at VGC. Representative we spoke to was entirely incorrect and because of it we’ve had a very difficult day. There was no way to cancel our plans at this point, they finally found us a reservation for all but one night at Holiday Inn Desert vacation club. If we did not already have flights and show tickets I would not have used my points for this particular property. In no way do the villas look comparable to what we are used to staying at through DVC. Nor does the resort. I’m not even sure tomorrow when we check in if we will get a ground-floor room and they have no elevators and I have a husband with double knee replacement two months ago. The representative today was very knowledgeable and got a manager and actually helped in allowed us to technically over borrow due to the mistake that was made by the previous representative. It’s still doesn’t leave a very good taste in my mouth. I am out 180 points for a resort I would never have booked at. Back when we first were looking at resorts there was everything from the Trump resort to Hilton resorts. Both of which I find to be a stop up from a Holiday Inn. The Villa is 200 ft.² smaller than what we had booked without the amenities that we had planned at the Tahiti village. The only saving grace is the location is I suppose better. Again, I am extremely disappointed and trying to make the best of it and enjoy the time with my family away from the crisis. But I would always if I book RCI double check everything you think you know even once you receive the confirmation. The representative I spoke to was going to send an email to management about the fact that if anything gets canceled they should also send an email. Imagine my surprise if I had not double checked and tomorrow showed up at 9o’clock in the evening only to realize they had no room for us. I would have ended up paying cash for a very expensive room before changing to a different property. I highly doubt we will do an exchange again in the future after this experience. I realize the borrowing rules that are in effect right now we’re making things difficult for everyone but we did everything we could to make sure we were doing everything correct after being canceled twice. Hopefully this will help someone else in the future when they consider transferring out. I really feel like we wasted our points this year. I hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving. Hopefully your luck with RCI will be better than mine
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